23
EXPERIENCES IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL BY TRINITY GIDDINGS
Liverpool, England, December, 1863.
Five days after Josiah and I met Jigsaw-man, I received an urgent request, delivered by messenger, to attend Josiah’s ship, HMS Shearwater, which was now lying in Prince’s Dock.
As I approached the dockside I witnessed the strangest occurrence: leaving the ship were three white men wearing blackface in the manner of music hall minstrels who used burned cork to colour their skin and exaggerate their lips. Thought I was in the midst of some unearthly dream, swear to God. Blinked; looked again; yet still those minstrel boys remained before me, eyes agoggle in counterfeit complexions.
This child tried to imagine what might have got into Josiah’s head to permit these people on board his ship?
